


I Didn't Mean to Stare

by AconiteandAbsinthe



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-21
Updated: 2015-07-21
Packaged: 2018-04-10 13:45:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4394213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AconiteandAbsinthe/pseuds/AconiteandAbsinthe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From the tumblr prompt: “My bottoms just ripped and you can’t stop staring cause is that lace?!”</p>
<p>The Doctor accidentally catches a glimpse of Donna's underwear. Well...maybe more than a glimpse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Didn't Mean to Stare

He had a job to do. He was sure of it. In fact he was sure that his present situation called for a bit more attention than he was giving it.

It wasn’t his fault though. He, Donna, and about twenty natives were fleeing for their lives. They had been running for ages, all while jumping over rocks and tumbling through the hilly grasslands that filled this supposedly peaceful planet. They had just found an abandoned house to hole up in. He was tired, and his Time Lord brain had decided it only had enough power to focus on what it deemed to be the most important discovery this week. Donna had, at some point, ripped a hole in her jeans. It was about four inches wide, located right above her left pocket. And he could see the material underneath.

It was _black_.

It was the contrast that had drawn his attention at first. And he couldn’t be blamed for that, not when the brain is programmed so well to recognize it. He had certainly never seen such startling contrast as that deep black against the pale, snow-white skin of her-

The Doctor shied away from the word, certain his rather modest friend would berate him for even thinking it.

Donna had not yet noticed the tear in the rear of her jeans. Not surprising, since there were more pressing concerns at the moment.

“Oi! Help us barricade this bloody door!” she shouted at him.

He had just enough time to rip his eyes away to avoid being caught staring.

Oh. Right. Rogue Judoons hunting for blood, hundreds of lives at stake. He jumped into action and scrabbled to help the others block the door. He passed next to Donna and heard her mumbling about a spaceman with his head up his arse.

_Not quite_ , he thought.

He paused for a moment to ponder how to tell about her current clothing mishap, but the sound of a door being rammed shocked him back into action. He would tell her as soon as they weren’t in danger of being killed.

0.0.0.0

Three hours and some quick thinking, sonic waving, and bullshitting later, everyone was finally safe. From the Judoon, at least.

By now, Donna was the only person who hadn’t noticed that her…backside…was on view for the entire room. The Doctor found himself glaring at anyone who dared rest their eyes anywhere but her face.

Determined to help preserve what was left with her modesty, he summoned the courage to talk to her.

_Best just to come out and say it._

Donna was standing near the barricade, directing people on how to best dissassemble it. The Doctor walked over, intent on bringing her as little embarrassment as possible. But when he was only a few feet from her, Donna turned away and leaned down to pry a busted up chair from underneath an overturned table.

He hadn’t meant to look again, but she was right there, and he hadn’t been this close before, and-

_Dear Rassilon, is that_  lace??

His practical, modest Donna was wearing  _black lace_  undergarments?

His Time Lord brain once again failed him, as he was too preoccupied to avoid being caught staring this time.

“What are you lookin’ at?” she asked with a grin.

“Nothing! Nothing!” his voice was an octave higher than usual and it gave him away.

Suspiciously, Donna turned to look behind her and yelped at the discovery. Her hands tried to cover up the hole, but by now it had torn through nearly half of her jeans. She turned back to yell at him.

“What the hell, Doctor! Were you staring at my knickers?” she stomped over to him.

Any slap would have been well deserved, but to his surprise Donna just continued to berate him. She was well and truly upset. Thankfully, his brain turned back on and he recognized it wasn’t only anger fueling her tirade. Her cheeks were tinged red in shame, and he thought he could see tears of embarrassment in her eyes. She was awkwardly trying to keep her back to the wall while continuing her lecture. Everybody in the room was staring at her now, and she was helpless to cover herself.

He hurriedly offered her his jacket, and she snatched it out of his hand and tied it around her waist. He tried to make some sort of apology, but his stammer was cut off by another indignant rant.

Once the threat of exposure was eliminated, she marched off in search of the TARDIS, not bothering to say goodbye to anyone.

0.0.0.0

He set off after her immediately, but by the time he reached the TARDIS, she had already been in there for half an hour. He found Donna in the kitchen, making a smoothie. She had changed into another pair of jeans and added a long trench coat to her outfit. Her face was washed and her hair was down. His Earthgirl was doing her best to pretend like she hadn’t heard him come in.

He knocked softly on the doorjamb and entered the room. His guilt doubled when she turned her back to him and started cutting up some pears. For once, he barely noticed the fruit which was the bane of his existence.

“Donna, I-”

She turned the blender on to drown him out. He waited. She couldn’t blend forever, no matter how stubborn she was. After the pears had been well and truly liquefied, Donna shut off the machine and went back to the cutting board.

He tried again. “I’m sorry about earl-”

In went some bananas and the blender was on again. This time though, she made no move to stop it, even after there was nothing left for it to blend. He let another minute go by, and then gently reached past her to turn it off.

“I think it’s done,” he murmured.

She whirled around. “How could you let me walk around like that?”

It wasn’t a shout. It wasn’t even at a conversational volume. It was a whispered accusation, as if he had betrayed her.

_Maybe he had._

He tried to think of an excuse, but when he didn’t answer right away she finally raised her eyes to his. And he could see how hurt she was.

“Did you think it was funny, Spaceman?” and for the first time, there was actual venom in the appellation.

“No! Of course not-” he tried to find his voice.

“Thought you’d have a laugh at silly old Donna? Let everybody take a look so they’d all get the chance to join in on the joke? Well, I hope you enjoyed yourself,” she dropped her eyes to the floor and tried to move past him.

“No, please Donna. Nobody was laughing. I promise you. I meant to tell you earlier but there was so much going on and we were all in danger. I didn’t have time. I swear I would never let anybody laugh at you like that,” he prayed that she could see honesty in his eyes.

But she wasn’t looking at him. “Whatever, Doctor. I saw you staring.”

“It wasn’t like that, Donna. Please, would you look at me?” he asked quietly.

She looked straight at him, refusing to be anything less than proud.

“Those were my favorite underwear, by the way,” she said, “Do you know why?”

Even after all this time, he was still shocked at her bluntness. He stammered, and she continued on, relishing the fact that he was now uncomfortable as well.

“Because they made me feel beautiful. Even though nobody ever wanted me, there was still something to make me feel good about myself. It’s a small thing, but they were mine, and they were secret. Now I can’t even  have that. How am I supposed to feel, now that my best friend has let me parade around for all and sundry to judge?” he hated the catch in her voice.

“Nobody was judging Donna. And I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to invade your privacy,” he hesitated before adding, “And you  _are_  beautiful.”

She scoffed.

“Meaningless complements aren’t going to save you,” she said.

She sounded more sad than angry now.

“I wouldn’t lie to you,” he said, “I didn’t mean to look, and I’m sorry it happened, but it was all an accident.”

Donna leaned into the counter, looking defeated. “I don’t think  _you_  meant to do it, Doctor. But all those other people? It’s just shameful.”

The Doctor extended his arms, silently offering a hug. She accepted, and slid in tight to his chest. He could feel her warmth, and her forgiveness. The Doctor had a brief thought that it would always be like this. No matter what fight they had, they would always be best friends. Each an anchor for the other.

She mumbled against his suit, “Let’s never come to this planet again. I don’t ever want to see those people.”

“We’ll never even come to this galaxy again. There are countless others to go to. No sense in a repeat,” he assured her.

She allowed the hug for much longer than she usually would have, and the Doctor wasn’t going to argue. He liked hugging Donna very much. Even after a long day of running. Especially after a long day of running. He leaned his head against hers and closed his eyes. He could happily drift off like this.

A little while later he heard her whisper.

“Doctor?”

“Hmmm?”

“Do you promise you weren’t laughing at me?” she asked quietly.

“I promise,” he replied just as softly.

“All right then.”

And it was all right. He had her in his arms and he would do his best to keep her from getting hurt again.


End file.
